I always come back to this Tomato Jalapeno Salsa. Even after dozens of other salsa expeditions to far away flavors, I always come back. A warm salsa blended together moments ago simply cannot be beat.
Don't let the innocent looking ingredient list fool you. It's one of the simplest Mexican recipes in existence, but it also happens to be one of the most satisfying. Roasting the tomatoes is the hidden step that will have you boycotting your grocer's salsa aisle.
For anyone new to home-cooked Mexican, or anyone sick of their local taco joint, I always recommend starting with this salsa. It's the perfect example of the sum being far greater than the parts.
Tomato Jalapeno Salsa Recipe
Here is your ingredient list for 2 cups worth of delicious Salsa Roja:
Not pictured is the absolutely crucial step that I've already hinted at. You MUST roast the tomatoes if you want the salsa to taste authentic. This sweetens them up, lowers the acidity, and makes the salsa warm (yes!).
I usually put them in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes or so. I recommend you start by trying that method too. (Other ways to roast tomatoes.)
Start by rinsing the tomatoes and cutting out the stems. Leaving the stems is fine too but I'm in the habit of cutting them out.
Put them in the oven at 400F. After 20 minutes or so they’ll look like this:
You can leave the skins on; it won’t affect the flavor too much either way. But if the skins char considerably then I tend to pull them off.
Into the blender they go, along with ½ onion, 1 clove garlic, and if it's your first time making this salsa, add only one quarter of the jalapeno for now. (Do I use white or yellow onion?)
Start by pulse blending. We don’t want to blend it ‘til it’s thin and frothy. It’ll taste better if it’s left chunky.
And now the most important part: taste it! Be honest about the heat level. Not enough? Just right?
Most people will say not enough. If so, add in another ¼ of the jalapeno, give it a pulse blend and try it again. Heat level good? (More info on heat and capsaicin here.)
Keep going until it tastes right to you. Everyone's taste buds are different and most salsa recipes overlook this. It's worth it to add the heat incrementally the first time you make it.
Eventually you'll get good at knowing your preferred heat/spice level and can streamline this process in the future. For example, I usually start by adding ½ of the jalapeno, tasting, and then adding more if necessary
OK, you’ve got the heat level you like, the sauce is pureed roughly, and now you can add some salt to taste. The majority of the time I make this salsa I don’t add salt because the flavor is already rich enough for me. If you have tomatoes that were struggling, a pinch of salt may enhance them.
And that’s it! This is the world’s easiest salsa to make but it also happens to create one of the most unique flavors across all cuisines.
Not shown in the above photo is your friends and family's reaction to tasting a warm salsa after eating cold-salsa-from-the-jar their entire lives. Be warned.
Roasting the tomatoes and adding the heat incrementally are two techniques that will become a permanent part of your Mexican weaponry. Even after trudging through salsa recipes with 15 ingredients there's a good chance you'll always come back to the flavor of this one.
Buen Provecho.
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Tomato Jalapeno Salsa
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 garlic clove
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse and de-stem the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in the oven at 400F for 20-30 minutes.
- Add the roasted tomatoes to a blender along with 1/2 onion, 1 garlic clove, and only 1/4 of the jalapeno. Pulse blend until combined.
- Taste for heat level. Add another 1/4 of the jalapeno if you want additional heat. Keep adding additional quarters of the jalapeno until you find a heat level that works for your taste buds.
- Salt to taste. Serve immediately.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
We use this Tomato Jalapeno Salsa to make an epic batch of Chicken Tacos. Or you can see more jalapeno recipes here.
If you have access to a molcajete (mortar and pestle) it's worth trying it with this recipe. Here are details on using a molcajete.
And our latest article shows how to make the same Salsa four different ways.
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Glen
good evening Patrick I'm wondering about your tomato and jalapeno salsa you use three tomatoes one pepper half an onion one garlic so if I use Three Tomatoes would I use to Peppers one whole onion into garlic I I make my salsa but it comes out of the blender looking like applesauce or baby food and I'm trying to get it to be more liquidy anyway thank you for any suggestions keep on cooking brother
Patrick
Hey Glen! Yeah I like it chunky out of the blender but you can always add a splash of water to thin it out. Adding onion will thin it out too but a few tablespoons of water would probably be my first option. Cheers.
Glen Spencer
Thank you for responding Patrick I took your recipe and I doubled all the ingredients to make it six tomatoes one small onion one jalapeno pepper I put in for flavor to Serrano's to garlic and I'm still debating on the cilantro I use 8 sometimes 6 sometimes more in Anaheim chili and now I'm making it 12 Tomatoes two small onions to jalapenos for Serranos for garlic 15 stalks of cilantro and a green chili so thank you because this is the salsa I'll be eating from now on you take care God bless brother
gemma
tryig this today, just wanted to know how long it will last in a Tupperware pot? if anyone know please et me know. thankyou in advance
Patrick
Hi Gemma! If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge it will last for at least a few days -- but it does lose a bit of its zip so I'm in the habit of making smaller batches more often. Cheers.
Garlic breath
Hi there from Arizona,
I have been making salsa like this for years with a couple tweaks I love garlic so I roast everything then chop it up nicely I also add a little garlic salt to brighten up the flavor and if at all possible use home grown veggies especially the tomatoes. People rave over this salsa thanks for this site I love Mexican food especially salsa with lots of peppers in it
Patrick
Hey thanks much for your tips, those sound like tasty tweaks!
db
pretty dang good for the simplicity. I made first batch to the recipe specs. I tried it w/ a leaf of cilantro and that worked too. The 3 rd batch I added lime. and it worked. The MP post is just fine on its own tho!
Patrick
Thanks much for your feedback db -- I'm always amazed how good this salsa can be with so few ingredients. Cheers.
orville d jeffers
i want to can the product for long trm storae
Patrick
Hola Orville, thanks for stopping by!
To be honest, I don't do any canning or preserving myself, so I can't offer much advice for canning this particular salsa. I do get those questions occasionally though and lately I've been pointing people to the Ball website that has loads of info on preserving goods. Here's a link to it, hope it helps a little bit:
https://www.freshpreserving.com/canning-guide-pdfs.html
Patrick
Mark
I use same recipe but the roast all of it in oven then use pestle and mortar
Patrick
Old school! Awesome, your method will make a killer salsa Mark 🙂
Jillian
I love spicy salsas! This looks delicious I can not wait to try it out!
Patrick
Thanks Jillian! Sounds like you are a good candidate to keep an extra jalapeno on hand just in case you want to amp it up another notch 🙂
Allison
I love the simplicity of this salsa recipe. It's great to have a homemade salsa recipe that doesn't require a lot of chopping.
Patrick
So true Allison 🙂
Leah
This sounds like a lovely accompaniment to any dish! Great mix of flavors here!
Patrick
Thanks Leah!
Citra Kale @Citra's Home Diary
absolutely recipe to keep. thx for sharing
Patrick
You're welcome!